New Grad buying condo in Seattle

Amazon
poorng

Go to company page Amazon

poorng
Dec 28, 2021 18 Comments

Hi blind. I’m a junior engineer who just moved to Seattle and currently paying around $1900 in total for a studio right now.

I’m on OPT. I’m from ROW and my company is willing to start my gc processing anytime, so I won’t have much problem in maintaining a permanent status in the US. My parents want me to buy a condo to save the rent. They are willing to lend me around 100k for the down payment.

I have no debt and am single (no dependents and plans to marry soon) so I think I can afford paying mortgage for a decent studio in SLU near office. I just want to save rent so as long as I don’t lose money when selling it, it’ll be fine. I currently have little less than 30k in my investments which I can liquidize very quickly when I need to.

Sadly, I have much less knowledge about buying houses in the States. My home country have great benefits when buying houses for the first time, so I was wondering if the US has the similar stuff. Or things I should be aware of. I would greatly appreciate any sources of information on learning about this more.

TC: 178k
Age: 24

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TOP 18 Comments
  • Microsoft
    Taiwan #1🇹🇼

    Go to company page Microsoft

    Taiwan #1🇹🇼
    Studio condos aren’t a good buy. Go minimum 1br, preferably 2br. Depreciation + fees can easily cost more than you’ll save by not paying rent.
    Dec 28, 2021 0
  • Microsoft / Eng
    MegaXena

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

    MegaXena
    Don’t buy a condo without a parking spot and at least 1 bedroom. We had a hard time selling our condo last year and had to drop the price twice. Also make sure the condo has no special assessments coming and that they HOA is at least 70-80% funded for projects in the future. We had a huge plumbing issue come up and that costed each condo owner over $40k each. Anyways I don’t mean to scare you, but if I were you, I’d do a lot of research and consider a newer condo as the older ones have a lot of issues and cost a lot to run. I was recommend no older than 10 years.
    Dec 28, 2021 4
  • When you own, you pay off you own loan. When you rent you pay off someone else's loan
    Dec 28, 2021 0
  • I lived in Seattle for 20 years. IMO don’t buy in SLU. Do Queen Anne or Capitol Hill. Better neighborhood amenities, and better $:value. Take a look at options like North Gate and Columbia City, too
    Dec 28, 2021 1
  • Greencard will take 3+ years to come if you start now. If you dont have h1b or dont get it be preapared to rent your place.
    Dec 28, 2021 5